The legal and contractual aspects of networked cooperation for the building and construction industry

The construction industry is a project-based business bringing together many different organisations to complete a desired goal. The strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has enabled the goal to be completed more effectively. Two issues require addressing, the technology itself and the implementation factors of the technology. Such implementation factors should consider, among other factors, the legal and contractual issues associated with the use of ICT, training requirements and its effects on the organisational culture. To date the legal and contractual issues have not been extensively covered, and it is recognised that the technologies have not been properly covered by any recognised legal and contractual practices. This in turn is threatening to inhibit the growth and prosperity of the use of the technology on construction projects. This paper discusses these legal and contractual issues and describes methods and tools that can be used to enable the growth of technology to be used in a legal and contractually valid environment

Key Substitution in the Symbolic Analysis of Cryptographic Protocols (extended version)

Key substitution vulnerable signature schemes are signature schemes that permit an intruder, given a public verification key and a signed message, to compute a pair of signature and verification keys such that the message appears to be signed with the new signature key. A digital signature scheme is said to be vulnerable to destructive exclusive ownership property (DEO) If it is computationaly feasible for an intruder, given a public verification key and a pair of message and its valid signature relatively to the given public key, to compute a pair of signature and verification keys and a new message such that the given signature appears to be valid for the new message relatively to the new verification key. In this paper, we prove decidability of the insecurity problem of cryptographic protocols where the signature schemes employed in the concrete realisation have this two properties

Blockchain technology and IP – investigating benefits and acceptance in governments and legislations

The blockchain, as underlying technology of Bitcoins, has implications that reach far beyond the original intent as virtual currency. In this paper, we investigate how blockchain technology can be encompassed in the innovation process and bring huge benefits to the patent system as well as copyrights, trade secrecy, defensive publications, and open innovation. We further explore the institutional support for the technology necessary for a successful implementation, in form of legislations and governmental projects. We find out that numerous authorities have started voting favorable legislations and recognizing the technology as a valid public ledger. Ultimately, we confirm our findings by interviewing three actors involved in the innovation process.Keywords: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Intellectual property, Legislation, Innovatio

Intellectual Property Rights of Electronic Information in the Age of Digital Convergence

The laws of intellectual property aim to protect owners of the literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works; designs, innovations and inventions from unauthorized use or exploitation by some one else. Though every country has enacted laws to protect intellectual property of its citizens, many infringements take place and a majority of them end up in courts of law. The developments in information and communication technologies made the situation grimmer. This paper briefly explains the copyright and protection of electronic information, its security in network environment, and copyright provisions for databases, multimedia works, and computer software. The relevant provisions of the European Union, the American and the Indian legislative developments as well as the international efforts were touched. The various facets of the information Technology Act and the recently tabled Communications Convergence Bill have been discussed. Despite all the legislative efforts, a level playing field is needed for the rights owners, publishers, library professionals and user

Blockchain-based Provenance Solution for Handcrafted Jewellery

Käsitsi tehtud ehete valmistamiseks kasutatakse tootmismasinate asemel inimeste kätetööd. Kui masinate poolt tehtud ehted on samasugused, odavad ja kergesti kättesaadavad, siis käsitsi valmistatud ehted on ainulaadsed ja küllaltki kallid. Seda eriti siis, kui tegemist on tuntud käsitöölise või disaineriga. Käesolev tehnoloogiaajastu on tõstnud tarbijate teadlikkust ning inimesed on valmis rohkem maksma tõestatud päritoluga toodete eest. Samuti soovivad tootjad oma töö eest saada tunnustatud ja omada selle õigusi. Praegused lahendused on pärituolu osas poolikud ning see võimaldab tarneahelal olla läbipaistmatu ning seetõttu kõrvale hiilida läbipaistvusest ning jälgitavusest. Seetõttu on hüppeliselt kasvanud võltstoodangu arv, mis toob kaasa majandusliku ja keskkondliku kahju, terviseriskid, valdkonna halva maine ning rikutud usalduse. Käesolev dissertatsioon vaatleb ja selgitab plokiahela tehnoloogial põhinevaid lahendusi ja võimalusi taustakontrolli tegemiseks ning teostab Ethereumi plokiahelal põhineva lahenduse käsitööehete päritolu kontrolliks. Uurimuse tulemus aitab kaasa taustakontrollimehhanismide arengule ning aitab seda rakendada ülemaailmse tarneahela läbispaistvamaks muutmisel.Handcrafted jewellery involves use of hand labour rather than manufacturing machinery. Unlike manufactured jewellery which is similarly crafted, cheap and easy to find, handcrafted jewellery tend to be uniquely crafted and fairly expensive, especially when it is attributed to a well known artisan or designer. The current information age has birthed a new era of conscious consumers who are willing to pay more for products with proven origins. Likewise, creators desire to be rightfully attributed and acknowledged for their work. However, the partial implementation of provenance by current solutions has encouraged opaque supply chains that hinder transparency and traceability. For this reason, there has been a rapid increase in counterfeit products, unprecedented economic loss, environmental degradation, health risks, increase in defamation cases, and broken trust. In this thesis, we review related provenance solutions using blockchain technology, identify key provenance features and implement a provenance solution for handcrafted jewellery on Ethereum blockchain. The output of this research can be used towards the development of provenance as a subject and its implementation in global supply chains

Collaboration in Construction: Legal and Contractual Issues in ICT Applications

The construction industry is a project-based business bringing together many different organisations to complete a desired goal. The strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has enabled this goal to be completed more effectively. Two issues require addressing, the technology itself and the implementation factors of the technology. Such implementation factors should consider, among other factors, the legal and contractual issues associated with the use of ICT, training requirements and its effects on the organisational culture. To date the legal and contractual issues have not been extensively covered, and it is recognised that the technologies have not been properly covered by any recognised legal and contractual practices. This in turn is threatening to inhibit the growth and prosperity of the use of the technology on construction projects. This paper discusses these legal and contractual issues and describes methods and tools that can be used to enable the growth of technology to be used in a legal and contractually valid environment